Deficit-panel chiefs draw resistance to health-spending proposals

The leaders of President Barack Obama's deficit-reduction commission have called for broader cuts in medical spending than contained in this year's health-care overhaul, stirring opposition among health-care companies, doctors and some consumer groups.

How to tackle health costs has become a sticking point for the 18-member committee, which last week concluded three days of meetings without a firm agreement among members.

Under proposals from the bipartisan commission's two co-chairmen— Alan Simpson, a retired Wyoming Republican senator, and Erskine Bowles, a White House chief of staff to former President Bill Clinton—seniors in Medicare and military retirees would pay a greater portion of their health costs, doctors would get lower reimbursements and employers would face a cap on their tax exemption for providing workers with health insurance.

BlueCross BlueShield of South Carolina, which has generated hundreds of millions of dollars in profits over the past five years, has boosted the pay of board members and top executives while sticking...